By lifting up the contributions Latinos have made to America, we can fight back against the president [Opinion]

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, attends a press conference held by the House Judiciary Committee on immigration and domestic terrorism at the University of Texas at El Paso on Sept. 6, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. The House Judiciary Committees Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship held a field hearing in the wake of the deadly Walmart shooting where authorities say the suspected gunman specifically targeted Mexicans.

Photo: Cengiz Yar, Stringer / Getty Images

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for presidency back in June 2015, he did so by calling Mexicans criminals and rapists and promising a Great Wall.

Hearing his words, I was overcome by fear for what his words would do to my community and how they would affect families like mine. I immediately thought of my mother and father, both first-generation Mexican-Americans who always emphasized the importance of hard work, a good education and belief in God. I then thought about my brothers and sisters, who like me were raised on a small farm in Palito Blanco, Texas speaking Spanish with our parents and hearing stories about how their parents immigrated to the United States. Lastly, I thought about the predominantly Hispanic and Latino community in Houston I was fortunate enough to represent at the time in the Texas Senate. It’s a vibrant community of compassionate people with a fighting spirit and a desire to help their families achieve the American Dream.

Many did not take him seriously when he spoke so cruelly about Mexican immigrants, but I understood the significance of what he was saying. The reality of a Trump presidency has turned out to be worse than what anyone honestly expected.

We have seen migrant children ripped from the arms of their mothers and fathers and subsequently caged like animals. We have seen children die in United States custody because they were not given adequate and timely medical care. We have seen images of a father and daughter who drowned while trying to cross a river into the United States. They died because they would rather risk it all than go back to their home country. We have seen ICE raids across the country, most recently in Mississippi where kids were left without parents on their first day of school. And we have seen the president’s words incite hate and fear, out of which came a brutal act of domestic terrorism against the Latino community in El Paso.

All of this has been heartbreaking and frustrating. It often makes us feel like there is little we can do; but that’s not true, not for Latinos nor for our country.

As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I urge everyone to join me in lifting up the stories of Latino and immigrant communities across the country. Let us celebrate the important contributions they have made to our country. We are lawyers, entrepreneurs, teachers, plumbers, electricians, doctors, and even members of Congress.

While celebrating our community, we must also reflect on how they have been targeted and hurt by this administration. We must honor our people with action by registering Latinos to vote and getting them to the polls next November. This is how we will start to heal from the harm inflicted on our communities. This is how we will get justice for our people. This is how we will win!